Requiem Project: Part IV

Part IV of V

Friday, September 09, 2011

The fourth segment of Q2's 10-hourRequiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, compositions from composers including Meredith Monk and Arvo Part, stories from writers and volunteers, and many other pieces that reflect on timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.

Read composer testimonials, listener suggestions and album liner notes for the selections below.

You can listen on-demand and view comprehensive playlists for all five parts by clicking on the desired two-hour segment. The five segments will run in series on Q2 herethroughout the weekend.

Part IV Playlist

From the album liner notes:When the luxury ferry Estonia sank in the frigid Baltic Sea in 1994, it was Europe's worst maritime disaster during peacetime. Only 137 passengers and crew members survived, losing 852 others. This piece is dedicated to those lost in the disaster and takes its text from Psalm 107 and the weekly news broadcast in Latin, by the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Q2 writes:Just days after 9/11, star chef David Bouley opened up a makeshift restaurant near the World Trade Center site — it offered people working on the pile an alternative to the cold sandwiches and fast food they'd been eating during their sometimes four-day shifts. At one point, the staff estimated serving 45,000 meals per day, including poached salmon and chocolate mousse. And they served them in a special dining hall with communal tables (quickly nicknamed “The Green Tarp” for its décor). A volunteer named Holly Bart remembered a conversation she had with one of the diners, a fireman.

Meredith Monk writes:(of her residence in Banff, Canada) Looking out the windows of my studio in the woods, I could see the slender pine trees and snowy mountain peaks of the Canadian Rockies. Elk, mule deer, squirrels, magpies and coyotes were my occasional visitors. It snowed for days at a time transforming the woods into a luminous, velvety world. Having living in New York City for many years, I realized how long it had been since I experienced the silence and stillness of that world.

From the album liner notes:The Funeral Drums of Ghana are famous for their eloquence. The drums speak in cadences and every tone is a word in the percussion vocabulary. Only kings or members of the royal family will have this music played at their funerals.

Ru Con, Vietnamese Traditional musicuncredited artist Felmay 8107

Mesem, Balinese Traditional music Made Grindem Nonesuch 79718

From the album liner notes:A composition played for scenes of sadness, "when the puppets are weeping." It is also appropriate when the gener wayang is used for cremations.

TogetherMichael, vigil attendee WNYC (October 28, 2001)

Q2 writes:Michael (who preferred not to give his last name) was at a vigil for the first responders at Chelsea Piers.

John Moran from Jackson Heights, NYC writes: My younger brother died in May 2002, not long after 9/11, though I didn't notice how close in time the two events were. I heard Samuel Barber's Adaggio for the first time near my brother's death and that music touched me, reflected the pain of loss with no comfort that I was feeling.

Serenata by Dino Saluzzi Dino Saluzzi, bandoneon ECM 8586

Dino Saluzzi writes:(of his childhood)One day my mother overheard me saying something wrong, and to punish me put me in the corner with instructions to pray to Madre Mia. We had a very small altar, with blue flowers from the countryside. And I was praying and crying, and crying and praying, feeling very remorseful, and very close to the religious spirit... Remembering this time I wrote "Serenata."

Q2 writes:If you've already heard of Wojciech Kilar, it's most likely as a film composer: He's written soundtracks for Francis Ford Coppola (Dracula), Roman Polanski (Death and the Maiden) and Jane Campion (Portrait of a Lady). However, in his native Poland, Wojciech is a highly regarded, award-winning symphonic composer -- known for his grinding, elegiac string lines and ethereal woodwinds -- and an advocate for contemporary music.

Q2 writes:Originally for amplified violin, amplified cello, amplified marimba, electric guitar and keyboard, all of those elements are accounted for by guitarist Dominic Frasca who has arranged it, here.

Emily John from NYC writes:Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten - Arvo Pärt. Profoundly healing music, for many (much of Pärt's music applies). Playing an extended cut of children laughing - the sound of hope and the sound of future. ... I forgot that Pärt is born on September 11th (he turned 75 this past year). My sister, also celebrates her birthday on 9/11 and I know it has a very unique/bittersweet feeling for her - how to celebrate when others are grieving. I imagine that people with December 7th birthdays or other notable dates have a similar story, but I think that Pärt's music is very powerful for me and the fact that it is his birthday brings forward the reminder that amidst the tragedy, and the remembrance and grief, every year babies are born, people get married, buy groceries and live. Honoring this date is so important and I commend WNYC for giving opportunities for people's voices to be part of the process.

From the album liner notes:Hindus do not have music that is specifically funerary. Vedic texts are chanted or mantras are recited, and throughout the mourning period, devotional and spiritual songs are sung. This bajhan, or Hindu devotional song, was a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi; it was played at his funeral and it is now commonly played to signal the death of a head of state.

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